


Champagne Bubbles

by shopfront



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Dancing, Drinking, F/M, Getting Together, Identity Reveal, Threats of Violence, Undercover as a Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-15 09:42:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14788085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shopfront/pseuds/shopfront
Summary: When Ella joined Lucifer for an undercover sting, he fully intended to show her the art of having fun on the job. A little dancing, a glass or two of champagne, and some flirting later, and things aren't quite going to plan.





	Champagne Bubbles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sandrine Shaw (Sandrine)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sandrine/gifts).



> There is a villain with a gun, but no explicit violence/nobody is harmed.
> 
> Thank you to D for the beta!

"Where are you? I've been-,” Chloe barked on speaker the moment Ella hit accept call. The blare of a car horn drowned out the rest of her words but that didn't stop her talking.

“Well, good morning to you, too, Detective,” Lucifer replied loudly over the top of her, even as he eyed Ella sullenly for snatching the phone away.

Ella muttered something about dangerous driving that made him huff, but before he could respond he ran a yellow light and was distracted by another driver leaning on their horn. After making a rude gesture out the window, Lucifer finally returned his attention to the call - and an even more exasperated Chloe.

“I assure you that I have Miss Lopez safe and sound in the car beside me as we speak, and- No, we are not still- Detective, I assure you that we will both be there shortly-"

Ella cut him off by shrieking as a car loomed up suddenly in front of them. Lucifer swore as he hit the brakes and swerved around it. Once their car was straight on the road again, he took a deep breath and shot Ella a conspiratorial wink.

“There, there, Miss Lopez. There is absolutely nothing to fear. Though I must say, there do seem to be quite a few maniacs on the roads this morning! But I assure you, I am an exceptional driver and we will make it to the crime scene in one piece,” he said as he tried once more to reclaim the phone.

“Both hands on the wheel, please!” Ella replied frantically.

Chloe’s voice bellowed in miniature from Ella’s hand, interrupting their wrestling for the cellphone. “Lucifer. Lucifer! Stop driving!”

Lucifer gaped down at the device. “Are you sure you put that call on speaker, Miss Lopez? Only I must not be hearing the Detective correctly. I could have sworn that she just told me to stop driving. After many voicemails and the more than one rather rude conversation which we had earlier about the importance of both picking you up _and_ getting to work on time!”

“Lucifer!” Chloe’s voice sounded increasingly tinny through the small speakers as it raised markedly in pitch.

“I really think you should consider listening to her. Really,” Ella said. Almost immediately after speaking, she dropped the phone down the seat-well in favour of clutching at her door for dear life as Lucifer swerved around a corner. “Really!”

“I don’t-,” Lucifer started to reply in outrage. Then he noticed that the phone had disappeared and sighed heavily before swinging the car smoothly off the road and into a parking space. “Oh, very well.”

“Oh, thank you, Big Guy. Thank you, thank you,” Ella muttered as she clutched one hand to her chest and fumbled for the door handle with the other.

“Do you mind? It’s bad enough that I’ve spent all morning with the Detective yelling at me, you don’t need to bring Him into it as well,” Lucifer said as he leant over and began to fish around for the phone. He made a disgusted noise as he pulled it clear and began to dust it down. “Oh, that’s just appalling. Look at this, I mean, really. When the Devil pays for car detailing, he expects to get his money’s worth! Not _this_.”

Ella ignored him as she flung open her door and swung her feet out onto the pavement. She rested there for a moment with her head down and her hands braced again her knees.

“If you even think about turning that key, I am straight out this door, mister,” she said sternly as she breathed deeply. When Lucifer spluttered she flung her arm out behind her and pointed a finger in his direction without bothering to turn around. “I mean it!”

“Yes, yes, alright. Don’t get your knickers in a twist,” Lucifer said as he finished polishing the phone screen. Chloe’s voice was still emanating faintly from it as he finally took the call off speaker and raised the phone to his ear. “Now, where were we?” he asked.

Almost immediately he was forced to hold the phone away from his ear and wince.

"No, of course I didn’t crash the car, Detective. Now, why did you tell me to- oh. Oh, I see. Right. Well then, I’ll just turn around and head for the station, shall I? Honestly, I don’t know why you didn’t just say so when we spoke earlier.”

Ella turned slowly to stare at him in disbelief as he pulled the phone away from his ear. Another angry burst of noise came from the speaker and then Chloe's voice disappeared, and Lucifer was left squinting at the display.

“I think she just hung up on me. On me, Lucifer Morningstar!”

“Give me your keys,” was all Ella said in reply.

Lucifer gaped at her, at his phone, and then back at Ella again. “I most certainly will not!”

*

When they arrived, Chloe was waiting for them by the entrance to the police station. She stared as Ella smoothly parked the car and bounded out of the driver’s seat.

“Yes, I am happy to inform you that it really is as amazing to drive as you think it is,” she said. Her voice went up into an excited squeal at the end, and her cheeriness didn’t diminish in the slightest as Lucifer appeared behind her to pluck the keys forcibly from her hands.

“You let her-"

“Not by choice, Detective,” Lucifer interrupted. A frown lurked at the corners of his lips until Ella threw her arms around his middle.

“And it was ama-azing,” Ella sing-songed.

Startled, he froze and turned wide eyes down at her. His gaze lingered even as she stepped back again. As she did, she looked back up at him and the grin fell abruptly off her face.

“Not that this in any way makes up for you nearly driving us both to our early deaths this morning, mister," she said with a glare. "I’m just saying. Your car drives like a dream but you drive like a nightmare, and none of that was okay.”

Chloe covered a chuckle with a cough as Ella broke back into a sunny grin and began to lead the way inside.

“So. I was right about you nearly crashing the car, then?” Chloe asked Lucifer in a stage whisper

Lucifer rolled his eyes and straightened his sleeves. “For the last time, no, I did not nearly crash the car! Give me a little credit, Detective. My car is a wonder and a marvel of modern engineering, not to mention it cost me a pretty penny. I do know how to take care of my belongings, thank you very much.”

“So why did you call us off before we reached the crime scene?” Ella called back to them once she'd reached the entrance to the station and noticed that they hadn’t kept up with her. Chloe just shook her head at Lucifer one final time in amusement and then hurried to catch up with Ella.

“We hit a dead end almost immediately while questioning the witnesses, but something just isn’t adding up right. Dan and I-“

“Oh, Dan and I! As if that doesn’t just take the cake,” Lucifer said, fast on her heels as they entered the building. “I’m barely late enough to make a dramatic entrance, and Dan swoops in to steal my partner!”

“Yes, Dan _helped me_ start working the case when you _didn’t show up,_ " Chloe said, then ignored him when he continued to splutter. "Anyway, it was a pretty close-lipped bunch and the building's CCTV system has apparently been broken for awhile so we don't think we'll be able to pin anyone down as lying about their whereabouts. All we know is that the place was locked up early for the night because the concierge had a night off, and only residents had keyed themselves in since he clocked out. The victims also lived in the building, so the suspect pool is pretty small. Unless you find us a slam dunk in the forensics, Dan and I are thinking that someone should probably go in undercover."

Ella hummed thoughtfully. "Okay, so you need me to bump this baby to the top of my list?"

"That would be great, yeah. After you called to say your car broke down, one of the other tech’s started all the bagging and tagging for you. We called off everybody who hadn’t been seen at the crime scene yet while we review evidence, just in case. We'll start planning, but the sooner we know whether we need to move on the undercover thing or not-"

“Right, so there’s a big, urgent pile of processing already waiting with my name on it. Gotcha, I'm on it,” Ella replied with a nod as she promptly peeled away from them. She punched Lucifer lightly on the shoulder as she went. “Have fun playing catch up!”

Lucifer winced immediately and clutched at his upper arm. “I never would have thought tiny Miss Lopez could pack such a wallop,” he said plaintively as he rubbed at the sore spot and stared after her. Then he yelped as Chloe grabbed him by the same arm and yanked him out of the hallway.

*

By the time Ella had finished sorting the evidence collected by her colleagues, the others had all descended into bickering. Ella paused outside the room they'd commandeered to plan the undercover op in and chuckled to herself as she eavesdropped for a moment before entering.

“There’s probably someone suitable we can pull out of uniform to help,” Dan was saying in exasperation as she walked in. 

“No, no, no, that won't do! I have certain standards that I expect to be upheld, Detective Espinoza. Unlike some people in this room. I will only work with the best, and some random beat cop is most definitely not the best,” Lucifer said with an empathic smack of his hand against the case board. A photograph dislodged itself and floated down to the ground beside him unheeded.

“Lucifer,” Chloe began in a pacifying sort of a voice as she picked up the headshot and pinned it back into place. Then she began pointing one by one to the photographs of people lined up along the top of the board. “You already know that we need a woman as part of the undercover team to cozy up to Susie. Jennifer told us that Susie knows all the best gossip in the building and Brad also told us that she doesn’t make time to talk to her male neighbours. If that’s true, then we need to find a female officer to help us. But they've all met me already, and all of the other female detectives are busy. I told you that.”

Lucifer made a disgusted sound and gave the board a cursory examination. “I’m sure if you had let me actually help with the questioning, I could have convinced all of these people to talk to me this morning and saved us a lot of bother.”

Dan visibly gritted his teeth. “If you had actually-"

“That’s beside the point now,” Chloe said. She tilted her head to shoot Dan a surreptitious glare before continuing. “Regardless, we need to question them all again without arousing suspicion. The victims had an apartment for sale in the building that we’ve had taken off the market while we investigate. Most of the other residents are going to this social gathering thing tonight, so we need two people ready to pose as the new buyers and ‘move in’ as soon as possible. Which leaves us with a deadline and still no female officer to go undercover with you. We don't have time for you to be picky!”

Ella’s hand shot into the air behind them.

“Ooh, choose me, choose me!” she said, interrupting the argument. Chloe blinked and then exchanged a confused glance with Dan and Lucifer. When they all turned to stare at her, Ella gestured towards the board. “You said you need a woman they haven’t met to go undercover, right? Well, I was just as late as Lucifer, so they haven’t seen me. I can do it.”

“I had no idea you were interested in undercover work, Ella,” Chloe said slowly.

“Oh, I know. Me and my lab, we’re like this,” she said as she crossed her fingers and held them up. “And that’s great, don’t get me wrong. I love my job. But, you know, sometimes a little change is as good as a holiday. Besides, from the blood-splatter I was just analysing - or should I say, the relative lack of blood-splatter which is surprising given the severity of the blunt force trauma - I have a feeling you might need someone on the team with an excellent eye for detail.”

Lucifer raised his eyebrows and turned back to Chloe. “That sounds like an excellent argument to me, Detective. At least we know Miss Lopez is capable of a certain standard of work," he said as he sidled subtly closer to Ella. "Besides, we'd make a lovely couple, would we not?"

Ella looked pleased and pumped a fist in the air. She quickly dropped it again when she noticed Dan watching her, lips quirking.

"Or lovely roommates," she said with a careless wave of her hand. An affronted look crossed Lucifer face.

“Right, okay. Ella is very capable, of course, I don't want you to thinking that I don’t think highly of you, Ella. It’s just…,” Chloe said, then bit her lip as she trailed off.

“What I think Chloe is trying to say, is that most of the rest of us bothered to show up to work this morning,” Dan finished for her. Ella looked confused, but Dan’s gaze was fixed on Lucifer.

Lucifer raised his eyebrows in query. “Yes, and?” he asked as he made a ‘go on’ gesture.

“Which means you’re literally the only other person we’ve got that the potential witnesses didn’t see yet,” Chloe said. When Lucifer continued to look bewildered, she huffed and threw her hands up in the air. “And neither of you have the appropriate training to defend your partner in the field if something goes wrong! We can send one of you, but we really shouldn’t risk sending you both in.”

Understanding dawned on Ella’s face. “Darn it,” she said with a pout. “But, I guess. If you really think that's for the best?”

But Lucifer was quickly drawing himself up in indignation. “I’ll have you know that I am perfectly capable of defending both myself and Miss Lopez! Particularly in the extremely dangerous locale of what will likely be a cheap and tacky ballroom,” he said witheringly. He wrapped an arm around Ella as he spoke, pulling her close in beside him. “You feel safe with me, don't you, Miss Lopez?”

“Uh huh,” Chloe said and folded her arms while Dan scoffed.

“He's right, I do. Feel safe. As long as he’s not driving, anyway,” Ella offered with a sheepish look.

“Besides which, I really do think that working with someone whose company I can tolerate will help me break this case for you much faster,” Lucifer said with a beaming smile at Ella. "Assuming you still don't want me to question them directly here at the station? No? Then this seems best. If necessary, you can always ride to the rescue like you so enjoy doing, Detective."

“Yeah, you’ll both be nearby, right?” Ella asked.

“Well, yes, but-“

“No 'but's, then,” she said and wrapped her arm around Lucifer's waist in return. “We can help, and you’ll be nearby if we need it. Anyway, there’s nothing in the evidence I’ve logged to suggest firearms or any other sort of weapon that would allow someone to catch us unawares from a distance. We’ll just make sure we’re being super careful and remain alert and aware of our surroundings at all times. Right, Lucifer?”

“Yes, exactly. What she said,” Lucifer said, directing another pleased look at Ella as he waved off any further complains from Chloe and Dan. “You need to relax a little, Detectives. Now, Miss Lopez, if you’ll just come with me. I suspect I know a few places that can rustle us up some more convincing outfits for this little gathering than what passes for undercover wardrobe here among the LAPD’s finest.”

Chloe gaped as Lucifer immediately swanned out of the room, Ella shrugging back at them from her position tucked against his side.

*

“I really do think it would be much more believable if we were a couple,” Lucifer said. Then he made a sweeping gesture up and down his body. “I mean, would anyone really think that somebody could live with this day in and day out and keep the relationship strictly platonic? Hmm? No, I didn’t think so.”

“Alright, hot stuff,” Ella said with an indulgent smile. “If it means that much to you, we can fake date instead of be fake roomies.”

“Excellent,” Lucifer said. He preened a little at the unimpressed look on the Chloe and Dan’s faces as he hopped down from the back of the van and offered Ella a hand down. “Though I must say, I still don’t see why you two had to let us out so far away from the event. In these shoes? I’ll get a blister.”

“Ugh,” Chloe said and slammed the door shut in his face.

“Did you see that?” Lucifer asked Ella in outrage. He frowned at the closed door, but allowed Ella to guide his arm up so she could take hold of it. “Well, I suppose we should go wine and dine some of our new neighbours. Though I won’t be much of a conversationalist when my feet hurt!”

Ella laughed as he directed his last few words at high volume towards the van as they began to walk away. Despite his protests, however, it didn’t take them long to reach the event.

“Finally, you’ll have the chance to really see me shine tonight,” Lucifer said brightly as they entered the building. But as soon as they made it past the entrance foyer, he glanced around and deflated. “Oh. Well. This is going to be the most boring operation in the whole of history. What a disappointment. I really had intended to show you an excellent time tonight, Miss Lopez. This just won't do at all."

Ella smothered a grin, but couldn’t help nodding along with him as she surveyed the room. “I think this might be the same decor they had at my prom.”

“Sadly, I doubt they’ll have spiked the punch here,” Lucifer replied as they started to slip through the crowd. “Ah well, I guess I’ll just have to do it for them.”

Ella eyed him. “Where could you even fit a flask in that thing,” she asked skeptically, as she examined his suit.

Lucifer dipped his head graciously at her, as if acknowledging a compliment. “Why, Miss Lopez. I had no idea you were looking so closely!” he said happily, leaning in closer with a smirk. Then his expression dropped, replaced instead by a huffy look. “Though you’re right. Anything in these pockets would have ruined my lines. We'll have to rely on the probably sub-standard alcohol provided by the event.”

“And we can’t possibly have that,” Ella said with a grin. While Lucifer pouted and eyed the far end of the room - where there did indeed seem to be a punch bowl on the end of the buffet - Ella looked around and then quickly waved down a waiter carrying drinks. Once they'd approached, she selected two flutes of champagne.

Lucifer raised an eyebrow and took a sip once the waiter had disappeared again. “I didn’t know you had such refined tastes, Miss Lopez,” he said lowly, leaning in closely as they began to work their way into the crowd. "This is surprisingly palatable."

“A girl's allowed to enjoy some bubbles now and then,” Ella said with a sniff. “Besides, I thought it might help us blend in even if it had turned out to be too terrible to drink.”

She nodded discreetly towards the people around them who were all holding drinks, and Lucifer sighed. “Yes, well, I suppose there is also a certain charm to drinking away the pain. Regardless of what we're drinking.”

Ella smothered a chuckle in her flute. Then she turned curious eyes on Lucifer. "I know we're meant to be on a date and all. But you're staying a little close, aren't you?"

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Lucifer asked in a gallant tone, poised to step back. But when Ella simply raised an amused eyebrow instead of agreeing, he gave her lascivious grin and leant in closer still. "But doesn't this make the playacting more fun?" he continued quietly. Quickly he plucked the glass from her hand and dropped it, still half-full, along with his own on a passing tray. Then he swooped her up with his arms around her waist and spun them both around as if they were out on the dance floor.

Ella shrieked and made a desperate grab for the lapels of his suit as her feet left the floor. Then she burst into laughter and clapped a hand over her mouth, her cheeks burning as she braced her other hand against him for balance. Beaming back at her, he gently placed her back on her feet and then twirled her out again a little more gracefully this time. As they moved, the people nearest to them backed away out of self-preservation, creating an impromptu dance space just for them.

After he'd reeled Ella back in, he leaned down to murmur in her ear. "Besides, it is extremely difficult to resist a woman who can wear a neon blue ballgown and somehow make it look fetching," he said wryly as they moved into a slow sway. When he pulled back, they locked eyes. Ella was still giggling as the smirk faded from Lucifer's face. 

"Do you like it?" she asked, slightly breathless.

"Fetching was perhaps not a strong enough word," he said as he slowed to an absentminded stop, still staring down at her. He hesitated a second before continuing. "You look beautiful tonight."

Before Ella could respond, the sound of women's voices exclaiming distracted them. Looking up, Lucifer spotted a small cluster of women watching them from the edge of the circle. Ella gave Lucifer a speculative look as they broke apart, eliciting more titters and inaudible gossiping from the group as they approached. Visibly flustered, Lucifer avoided her gaze and breezed straight through their introductions.

“Well, aren't you two darling! Are you…?” a woman asked, with a significant glance at both of their left hands once everybody had completed their hellos.

“Isn’t it funny that you should ask,” Lucifer said after a beat. He turned to Ella with a grin and completely ignored her half-hearted attempt to kick him in the ankle. “No rings just yet, no. Though I’m sure my beautiful Ella here would love one to go with the new apartment, wouldn’t you sweetheart?”

The other woman’s mouth dropped open a little as she looked between them in clear anticipation. But Ella just smiled sunnily at her. “Bit soon for a wedding, we just moved into the building. Maybe later. Much later.”

Lucifer sighed dramatically. “And now all my hopes of proposing in front of our wonderful new neighbours here are dashed!”

“Aww,” the other women said to Lucifer.

It was quick work after that for Lucifer to ascertain that nobody present had been especially close with the victims, as the women hung on his every word. Once they'd extracted themselves from the conversation, Ella had upgraded from attempted kicking to strangling his arm in a death grip. “Seriously? A surprise maybe-engagement? Could you give me a little warning next time you want to change our cover story?"

“My apologies, it’s just so much easier to play to what the crowd wants. Perhaps we’d be better off taking another turn on the dancefloor instead? After all, we seem to be the only people in this room who aren’t total dullards.”

“That’s not exactly going to help us get any answers,” Ella muttered, but Lucifer had already changed direction back into the crowd before she’d finished speaking.

“I suppose if we must,” he said as he snagged two fresh glasses of champagne from a passing tray. He gave Ella a dazzling smile as he tried to pass one to her. "To my darling future fiancée!"

“Oh, I don’t know if I should have another. You know, on the job and all,” Ella said under her breath. But she didn’t protest when Lucifer just pressed the glass into her hand.

After a few more turns around the room, they finally spotted one of their targets in a group of people huddling in a corner. One of them raised a glass in a toast as they walked over.

“New people!" the man cried, then his smile flickered. "Wait, you are new around here, right?"

Ella nodded enthusiastically and the man slumped a little, smiling in relief.

"Oh thank goodness," he continued as he drifted closer and clapped Lucifer on the shoulder. "I'm terrible at these building social committee things, I always seem to offend someone by not recognising them.”

"Mmm, yes, well," Lucifer said with a grimace as he tried and failed to subtly dodge the man's meaty hand descending once more. "Perhaps it might help if you didn't loudly announce the fact that you don't recognise someone? Just a guess, mind. But I have a sneaking suspicion you'll find that's your problem, right there."

The man laughed uproariously, but Lucifer was already distracted. As he watched with narrowed eyes, two women maneuvered Ella away from him while one of them giggled something about girl talk.

"Who is that?" Lucifer asked the man. “She looks familiar.”

"What?" the man asked, his laughter stopping abruptly. Lucifer discreetly signalled the nearest waiter as he made a show of listening attentively. "That's just Susie and Laurie. They're alright. Susie's a bit boring, if you know what I mean. Never wants to meet the men around here-"

"Ah, yes. How odd with such prime specimens as yourself available, hmm?"

“Exactly! But so what, that's Susie, I guess. You get used to it," he said as he chugged a new flute of champagne. "I'm Brad."

"Hello, Brad," Lucifer said, emphasising the name with a twist of his lip. Then he plastered on a smile and leaned in close to murmur. "So, what else can you tell me about Susie? Any other odd little - or not so little - personality quirks? Prone to fighting with anyone else on the social committee, perhaps?”

Brad blinked at Lucifer, but didn't protest when yet another flute was pressed into his hands. "Well," he said, turning to look at Susie again. Lucifer turned as well, though his gaze was fixed on Ella. "I suppose there's a few stories I could share."

*

“At least they outfitted this place properly for us,” Lucifer said as he poked around the kitchen of their 'new apartment' a few hours later. He shoved his earpiece to the side of the counter along with Ella's and frowned at the kitchen as he kept rummaging. Finally, he found and held aloft a corkscrew. “Aha!”

When he turned to brandish the corkscrew in triumph, he came toe to toe with Ella. Startled, she reached out a hand and grasped Lucifer by the hip to keep her balance. They smiled at each other stupidly for a long moment, before they both realised what they were doing and turned away in a hurry.

“I think the place came like this,” Ella said with a wrinkle of her nose, furtively looking around the room. “Murdered former occupants with no next of kin and all that. And is that really a good idea? I already had two glasses at the party.”

“It absolutely is,” Lucifer said as he fiddled with the corkscrew. “Relax, Miss Lopez. I stole this bottle on the way out just for you, so you might as well enjoy it. We’re off the clock now, so you can put your feet up and make the most of your love of bubbles without all that insipid background noise.”

With a pop, Lucifer had the bottle open before she could protest again. But Ella didn’t seem inclined to complain, lounging against the counter as her gaze drifted hesitantly back towards him. Appearing unconcerned, Lucifer was filling both glasses held in one hand with a flourish when he hissed.

“Are you okay?” Ella asked. Lucifer just cursed soundly in response. Grabbing his hand, she immediately spotted blood and pulled a face. “Oh, boy. Ouch, that looks sore. Did the corkscrew attack you?”

Lucifer just glared at his hand while she turned away to look through the nearest cupboards. “The Detective’s van must still be close,” he muttered, and then yelped when Ella reappeared and pressed folded paper towel firmly against his palm. “Careful, Miss Lopez! I’m in a delicate state at the moment!”

Ella tilted her head at him, brow furrowed. But there was a knock at the door before she could ask him to explain his muttered words.

"Just a second!" she sung out, still pressing hard on the cut. He whimpered and tried to tug himself free, but she had his wrist in an iron grip. She eyed his hand closely, peering at the towel to see if red had soaked through it anywhere. "Hold still. If it stops bleeding quickly we can probably just bandage it, instead of taking you to emergency."

"Emergency? As in hospital?" Lucifer asked in a high pitched voice.

The knock at the door repeated, this time louder.

Ella sighed, still eyeing his hand. "It doesn't look like it's bleeding too much,” she said slowly. Then she took Lucifer's other hand, which she'd pushed away absentmindedly so that she could see the wound without interference, and replaced her own hand with his. "Here, just hold that in place a second while I get the door. A pizza delivery guy is probably on the wrong floor or something."

"Is ‘much’ really an appropriate word here? I think any blood is probably too much!" he called after her as she disappeared into the hall. Picking up the edge of the towel, he peeked underneath it and then winced. "I really don't think I should be left alone! I might pass out from the blood loss!"

When Ella didn't answer immediately, Lucifer frowned and started after her.

“Um, honey? I think I might have made a mistake answering the door,” Ella called back to him before he’d made it out of the kitchen. When her voice wavered slightly on the last word, Lucifer frowned and stepped up his pace. The problem quickly became apparent as he rounded the corner - nearly stumbling over Ella in the process - and came face to face with the barrel of a gun.

“Miss Lopez, get behind me,” Lucifer ordered immediately. The gun wavered from Ella to Lucifer and back again.

“I don’t think so,” Brad said as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him. Lucifer swallowed and Ella made a faint sound of protest as they watched him carefully slide the security chain into place without letting the gun drop.

Lucifer’s eyes darted down. He had automatically held his hand out in front of Ella as if he could ward the gun off, dropping the paper towel, and it placed the cut directly in his line of sight. It still bled sluggishly, a tiny trickle of red beginning to run down the side of his wrist. “You heard me, Miss Lopez,” he said as he smoothly stepped in front of her.

“Who’s Miss Lopez, anyway? I thought your names were Smith. Are you two cops?”

“Oh boy, no. No no no no no,” Ella said frantically from behind Lucifer. She peered warily around him with wide eyes. “I am most definitely not an officer of the law. Or a detective. Really, I’m not!”

“Don’t be absurd. I mean, honestly, Brad,” Lucifer said. He smirked and smoothed down his clothes with his uninjured hand as he spoke, but the expression didn’t make it as far as his eyes. "I can see you barely have a modicum of taste from those awful things on your feet, but do we really dress like undercover detectives? No, I think not."

Brad's brow furrowed as he looked Lucifer over. The confusion on his face make Lucifer snort in derision, which in turn made Brad refocus his aim.

"Both of you! Through that door!" he said, gesturing with the gun back towards the kitchen. Ella hurried to comply, but Lucifer stood his ground. A muscle twitched in Brad's jaw as he started walking forward.

But Ella had already turned back to tug on Lucifer's arm. "Lucifer, please," she said quietly, and he let himself be pulled after her.

Brad seemed to relax a little once Lucifer was doing as he was told. His mouth twisted angrily as they moved through the apartment. "You morons don't even realise what you have here,” he said as they walked. "You’re probably already taking it for granted."

"What _do_ we have? I am in possession of many blessings, all of which I am well aware of,” Lucifer said with a mirthless smirk.

"Lucifer!" Ella hissed, tugging again on his elbow again until he subsided.

But Brad didn't need the encouragement, he was already working himself into a rant without any help from Lucifer. "I can hardly even hear anything all the way up here!" he cried as they entered the kitchen.

"Look, whatever you want," Ella said. She shot Lucifer a quick, nervous look as she spoke, and then obviously considered the distance between them and their ear pieces and cellphones. They were still on the counter and too far away for either of them to reach. "I'm sure we can work something out.”

Brad scoffed. "You won't give me what I want!"

"Oh, you never know. Why don't you tell me your deepest desire and we can find out?” Lucifer asked, his mouth curling in disgust as his eyes darted from Brad to Ella to his hand and back again.

"I want to kill you-" Brad said. Ella gasped, but he kept talking over her. "So I can buy your apartment."

Lucifer blinked. Then he turned a look of bewilderment towards Ella, who just shrugged at him.

"Did you just-"

"You have no idea how hard it is to get into this building!" he cried suddenly, waving the gun around. "That damn social club! Everybody loves it, and nobody ever moves out! This place is perfect for me, except I'm down on the second floor. I get all the traffic noise. But you - all of you - up here with your clear views through to the ocean and your silence and-"

"Our windows that don't open?" Lucifer asked flatly, tilting his head with a flat stare.

Ella made a move as if to step on his foot, but she wasn't close enough to reach him. Brad, however, went red in the face.

"I was going to buy it cheap. Nobody wants the murder apartment, this was all going to be mine! How did you even buy it so fast, anyway?" he asked. Then he suddenly turned calm. "It doesn't matter. This can all still be mine."

Lucifer straightened his shoulders, drawing himself up to his full height. He glanced down, taking in the blood still sluggishly leaking from his palm, and sighed.

"Guess there's nothing for it, then," he said, eyeing the distance between Brad and Ella.

"Oh, God," Ella started chanting under her breath. "You really, really don't-"

But Lucifer was already moving with purpose, sliding smoothing in front of Ella. "That's quite enough of that, thank you very much," he huffed as he stretched out his arms - and, with a rustle of feathers, his wings. Turning slightly, he enfolded Ella in one wing, even as he flicked the other and sent Brad flying harmlessly across the small room.

Safely wrapped both in feathers and Lucifer's arms, Ella stared up at him with wide eyes.

"Woah," she said softly.

*

The next hour was lost to a whirlwind of dodging questions from the detectives. Not to mention trying to speak to Ella, as she sat under a shock blanket with the medic.

"You just- you- Lucifer-,” she'd stammered while they stood by Brad's unconscious body. Then she’d repeated his name again, and blanched. “It's all true. You're really...."

Then she'd backed away, holding out a hand to keep him back so that she could take in the full sight of his wings.

“Miss Lopez,” was all that Lucifer had been able to say before she'd turned away.Babbling about backup, she'd fumbled for their ear pieces on the counter and then for her phone. All the while staring at Lucifer, her eyes moving compulsively between his face and his wings.

Grimacing, he'd folded the wings away again. "We really should talk about this,” he'd said repeatedly, both before and after backup had arrived.

But Ella had just told him not now, and retreated. “I just need, I don't know. I need a little time," she'd said hurriedly once they'd finally been cleared to leave the scene.

Lucifer had followed her back to their cars at a distance, anyway. Sometimes humans reacted poorly to divinity. While he'd normally wait and see what the fall out was later, this was Ella. Not to mention that the shock might combine particularly poorly with the aftermath of having a gun pointed at her.

When she’d slipped behind the wheel, apparently too distracted to notice Lucifer shadowing her along the street, he’d done the same. But he'd simply ended up following her to church. Once he'd realised where they were, he'd driven off in disgust at the prospect of following her further.

“At least she probably feels safe there,” he pondered aloud some time later to a fresh bottle of booze in his own apartment. His lip curled at the thought as he poured himself yet another glass. “Probably being reminded all of the reasons why she shouldn’t want to be-"

He hesitated.

"- _friends_ with the Devil.”

Lucifer took a long swallow and relished how the drink burned on its way down. Once the glass was empty, he cast it aside carelessly to shatter on the floor and raised the bottle directly to his lips as he wandered outside.

A breeze picked up, cooling the slight flush of alcohol on his skin. "Don't get that from a tacky apartment with no opening windows," Lucifer muttered to himself. Then he rubbed at his forehead and let his other hand, still holding the bottle, drop to his side. "What was I thinking?"

Before he could get too maudlin, however, the elevator dinged.

Lucifer turned himself around carelessly, leaning heavily on the balustrade to keep himself upright. But once he saw who it was, he straightened up sharply in surprise. Staggering slightly in the process, he only caught himself because of his grip on the railing.

“Miss Lopez," he said, trying and failing to keep his tone even. "I wasn’t expecting you. What brings you to my humble abode?”

Her gaze seemed clear for the first time since he'd unfurled her wings. Jaw set, she strode towards him, eyes bright. "I don't believe in Hell," she declared.

Lucifer hesitated. "Right. That’s nice, but-"

"But I do believe in people - or, um, beings - losing their way," she continued stridently without acknowledging him. Her words picked up speed as she closed the gap between them. "And in redemption and the prodigal son and turning the other cheek and-"

"I'm hardly a prodigal anything," Lucifer said sourly, then brightened. "Thought I most certainly am a prodi _gy_  at everything I try. Perhaps that's what you meant?"

He broke off abruptly as Ella launched herself at him. Her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. It was the only thing stopping him from staggering again, this time from surprise as she stretched up on her toes and pressed her lips against his.

He was still gaping when she dropped back down and pulled him closer.

"Thank you for protecting me," she said, her voice muffled by the way she had pressed her face against his chest. The warmth of her seeped through his shirt as they stood in the breeze, her arms having slipped beneath his jacket without his noticing. "Thank you for trusting me, and letting me see you. All of you.”

Lucifer brought his hands up to press lightly against her back in return. "Yes, well," he said hesitantly. "I suppose you might say you're too important to me to let some lunatic shoot you."

Ella drew back slightly. Just enough to wipe at her eyes without fully releasing him, but it still took Lucifer a moment before he could convince himself to let her go. "You're important to me, too. I want to know everything," she said, a note of steel in her voice.

Taken aback, Lucifer stared down at her. "I suspect you've read most of the highlights, already," he said faintly.

But Ella shook her head and started to walk backwards, slipping her hand into his as she went. "No, I want to hear your side of it," she said as she led them over to the couch. She settled on it and curled her legs under her, looking up at him expectantly.

"Do you, now?" he asked blankly.

"Yes," Ella said, determination and warmth written across her face.

And, to his own surprise, Lucifer found himself joining her on the couch. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he pulled her close and started talking, intending to do just that.


End file.
